On the 1st February 2002, during one of the most severe thunderstorms seen in Melbourne Australia for many years, I observed and photographed a rare type of lightning - Ball Lightning - so called because of it's spherical shape similar in nature to the animated GIF above.

This photo of ball lightning was taken by a student in Nagano, Japan in 1987. Ball lightning is interesting stuff. It's been seen to enter a house, drift around as if contemplating the scenery, then exiting out a wall, leaving everything untouched. It's also been known to blast holes in roofs, blow out every electrical outlet in the place and punch it's way out 2 seconds after quietly waltzing in. One report said the ball lightning came into the room, gently lifted up papers on a desk as if reading, wandered over to the man who was sitting there, stunned, seemed to look him up and down, then drifted up the chimney where it blasted the whole thing to bricks and soot, which rained on the houses next door.